Proof that I really did enjoy myself!!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
El Tour de Tucson
I signed up for this race early last spring, and had been looking forward to it ever since. Every now and then I would get small panics about the distance, and I would worry about not training enough... but for the most part, I knew that I could finish the distance, and even though I had no idea how long it would take me or how hard it would actually be, and I was excited. I really love riding my bike. I knew that even if this was going to be really difficult, I was going to enjoy it.
I have a few friends who I had also conned into signing up for this race (including Josh), so it was nice to have people to go on training rides with over the last couple of months. As of a week before the race, I had completed a number of 60 and 70-mile training rides, and was planning to finish one more 80-mile ride the weekend before the race. Of course as my luck would have it, I woke up the morning of my planned ride with a nasty head cold, and was unable to ride that day, or any other day in the week preceding the race. I was sad to have missed my longest training ride, but mostly was concerned with getting rid of my cold. I remained snotty and congested all week long, and even though I still had quite a bit of drainage (sexy, I know), my head was feeling quite a bit better by Friday night. We went out for a big pasta dinner the night before the race with Megan, Liz, and Justin (who were all also racing), and got to bed early in prep for the big day.
Josh and I had planned to arrive early to the start line because I wanted to be sure to get a spot relatively close to the front of the pack. I figured, the further up we were, the more likely we were to be surrounded by faster and more experienced riders, and the less likely we would have to deal with nervous people or people crashing into each other, and the less likely we would have to worry about having to pass a lot of slower riders. This all turned out to be true, and I'm really glad we showed up to the start line early. We were also able to save space so that Megan could join us in our primo spot towards the front of the pack.
Did I mention that were almost 9,000 cyclists doing this race? Yes, almost 9,000. There are four different distances available to race, 109 being the longest, and there were about 4,200 people in the 109-miler. Seeing this many people with bicycles all in one place, and knowing that you will be sharing the road with this many bicycles... well, it's kind of crazy. Once the race started, there were stretches of road where you could see an endless line of bicyclists for many miles ahead and behind you.
Also, 109 miles is a lot. To put it in perspective for you, here is the route map. This route literally circles the entire city of Tucson. Luckily, the elevations gains are not too terrible... but really, after you've already ridden 70 miles, any significant gain in elevation is not very much fun. (Here is the elevation profile.)
So, the race started right at 7am, and we surged ahead with the crowd of bikes. The first few miles were kind of surreal- there were SO many cyclists. And it was really chilly, as the sun hadn't really come up over the mountains yet. I went out going faster than I normally would because I was surrounded by so many fast people, but I was feeling great and just taking in the semi-surreal experience of being in the middle of such a massive event. Josh started off ahead of us and I assumed I might not see him again until the end of the race, but Megan and I stuck together for the first bit of the ride.
About seven miles into the ride, the route crosses over a sandy wash where all cyclists have to dismount and carry their bikes to the other side. Of course, as soon as I picked up my bike to put it over my shoulder, I broke one of my water bottle cages. Luckily it didn't completely break off, but I realized that I'd have to be extra careful with my back bottle, since it was now pretty loosely attached. On the far side of the wash, there was a Mariachi band playing music and singing. They were really good, and this was also the first place on the course where lots of spectators were gathered to cheer, so the energy level was great. I stopped for a moment to see if I could find Megan behind me, but didn't see her and started riding again.
To be honest, large chunks of this ride are kind of a blur in my mind. I guess that's what happens when you're on your bicycle for almost 8 straight hours. I stopped for the first time around mile 30 to eat a little bit and to blow my poor snotty nose (some super awesome volunteer actually grabbed a whole box of tissue from his car for me!), and then kept pedaling along. Meredith caught up to me somewhere along Houghton Rd, and we were able to chat a little bit up until Freeman Rd where I passed by her on the nice big downhill. I knew that there would be an aid station after the second wash crossing, so I decided not to stop again until that point. Around mile 40-45, I started to hurt. My legs were feeling heavy and my saddle was really starting to bother me, and I was beginning to worry a bit about how I'd finish another 70 miles. I kept plugging away, forcing myself to drink and eat even though I wasn't hungry at all, and eventually made it to the second wash crossing at mile 47.
Just as I was starting the second wash crossing (which was really long, like 3/4 of a mile), I got a text from Josh saying that he was also at the wash. I was able to call him and figure out that he had just finished walking through the wash, and he waited for me on the other side. I was really pleased to know that I had been so close behind him, and it was also nice to stop for a minute and talk. I think walking across the wash gave my legs just the break they needed, because I felt much better after trudging through all that sand, surprisingly enough. Within the first mile after the wash, there is a purely awful hill on Snyder Rd. I made it to the top and pushed through, but man, this killed my legs. I was happy to coast down a few hills after that.
I lost Josh again soon after the Snyder Rd hill, and tried to keep thinking about how nice it would be once I had finished all of the uphills along Sunrise and Oracle and could finally enjoy the awesome downhill on Tangerine. I was doing fine, pedaling and spinning my legs as fast as I could, but I always seemed to be all by myself on the road, with big packs of people behind me and in front of me, but never with me. Oh well. Probably for the best, as big packs kind of freak me out anyway. I passed by all of the aid stations because I felt like I had plenty of water and I had eaten a good bit at the wash, but this turned out to be a bad idea. After the turn onto Oracle, I soon realized that I only had a couple more sips of water in my bottles. I definitely should have refilled them back at the Snyder wash. Oracle Rd is a bitch no matter what, but this was especially rough for me. I was riding all by myself (or felt like it, anyway), the wind was starting to really pick up, I was concerned about saving my last bit of water, and I didn't know when the next aid station was. I had a horrible feeling that I wouldn't be able to get more water until after the last steep hill on Oracle, which was going to suck.
Justin caught me about halfway up Oracle, and chatting briefly with him was enough to temporarily take my mind off of the dreaded upcoming hill, which was good. He passed me after a short while, and I was back on my own. Just as I was starting to see the hill nearing me, I noticed an aid station on the side of the road- I was so happy to see that damn aid station. I pulled off and dropped my bike, and as I walked to refill my bottles, ran into Josh again. We talked about the wind and the hills and ate a bunch of fruit, and he reminded me to take some Advil, which I'm convinced was a lifesaver. From this point on, Josh and I remained pretty close and leaped back and forth with each other for the rest of the race. This water stop was JUST what I needed, because I totally got a second wind after leaving. We tackled the Oracle hill, then the rolling hills in Rancho Vistoso, and then we were off to the lovely 5-mile downhill at Tangerine Rd.
The wind had picked up considerably as we rode through Rancho Vistoso, and we were all beginning to dread the final 15 miles of the race, which we knew would be directly into a headwind. I had not been expecting the crazy crosswinds on Tangerine though. On a normal day, I can coast down Tangerine at approximately 27mph, but on this day, I had to pedal pretty hard to keep up a pace of about 24mph. Talk about frustrating! This was not the free speed I had been looking forward to at all. Feeling dejected, we stopped at the bottom of the hill to stretch and eat a bit. I was feeling surprisingly good, and at this same time I looked at my watch and realized that I could most likely beat 8 hours for the whole ride!! I had some new enthusiasm towards getting this thing finished, and I was ready to push on.
From here (~85 miles) on, the wind was just terrible. Mostly, it was straight in our faces. Sometimes, it would gust to the side and make us swerve. It was devastating. In situations like this though, I really do take solace in knowing that no matter how bad I'm suffering, there are thousands of other people suffering right along with me. I'm not sure why that makes me feel so much better, but it does. I don't have much to say about the final 30 miles of the route... they were long, and slow, and painful. Josh was starting to hurt in the last 20 miles or so, so we leap-frogged each other quite a few times. We stopped for one final time about 11 miles from the finish line, and he sat down to rest his back. I was definitely starting to hit a wall and get very tired, but I knew that I was close to the end and I really just wanted to finish, so I told him that I would see him at the finish line and I went off with a mission to get this thing done.
I pushed through the last miles, watching my odometer count off every tenth of a mile and trying my best to keep a steady pace. When I finally reached the turn on Congress Rd towards the finish line, I stood up on my pedals and sprinted past the two ladies next to me towards the line. My watch said 2:42- so my time was 7 hours and 42 minutes. I crossed with a huge smile and even choked back some tears that popped up when I thought about what I had just done... I mean, this was pretty awesome. Not only had I never ridden more than 70 miles before, but I had been sick all week, and I still beat my goal time by 17 minutes?! Yeah, I was psyched. (I had a secret goal of 8 hours which I hadn't told anyone about, and wasn't entirely sure that I could actually pull off.)
I absolutely love riding my bike. I was already online searching for future bike races within hours of returning home from the El Tour finish line. Although I'm not sure that many can beat the atmosphere of this race. El Tour is run very smoothly, the participants are so encouraging and (for the most part) friendly, the volunteers are incredible, the events are well organized, the spectator support is awesome, the scenery is beautiful, and it's just a hell of a lot of fun. I will absolutely do this race again-- without a doubt, my favorite race thus far.
I have a few friends who I had also conned into signing up for this race (including Josh), so it was nice to have people to go on training rides with over the last couple of months. As of a week before the race, I had completed a number of 60 and 70-mile training rides, and was planning to finish one more 80-mile ride the weekend before the race. Of course as my luck would have it, I woke up the morning of my planned ride with a nasty head cold, and was unable to ride that day, or any other day in the week preceding the race. I was sad to have missed my longest training ride, but mostly was concerned with getting rid of my cold. I remained snotty and congested all week long, and even though I still had quite a bit of drainage (sexy, I know), my head was feeling quite a bit better by Friday night. We went out for a big pasta dinner the night before the race with Megan, Liz, and Justin (who were all also racing), and got to bed early in prep for the big day.
Josh and I had planned to arrive early to the start line because I wanted to be sure to get a spot relatively close to the front of the pack. I figured, the further up we were, the more likely we were to be surrounded by faster and more experienced riders, and the less likely we would have to deal with nervous people or people crashing into each other, and the less likely we would have to worry about having to pass a lot of slower riders. This all turned out to be true, and I'm really glad we showed up to the start line early. We were also able to save space so that Megan could join us in our primo spot towards the front of the pack.
Did I mention that were almost 9,000 cyclists doing this race? Yes, almost 9,000. There are four different distances available to race, 109 being the longest, and there were about 4,200 people in the 109-miler. Seeing this many people with bicycles all in one place, and knowing that you will be sharing the road with this many bicycles... well, it's kind of crazy. Once the race started, there were stretches of road where you could see an endless line of bicyclists for many miles ahead and behind you.
Also, 109 miles is a lot. To put it in perspective for you, here is the route map. This route literally circles the entire city of Tucson. Luckily, the elevations gains are not too terrible... but really, after you've already ridden 70 miles, any significant gain in elevation is not very much fun. (Here is the elevation profile.)
So, the race started right at 7am, and we surged ahead with the crowd of bikes. The first few miles were kind of surreal- there were SO many cyclists. And it was really chilly, as the sun hadn't really come up over the mountains yet. I went out going faster than I normally would because I was surrounded by so many fast people, but I was feeling great and just taking in the semi-surreal experience of being in the middle of such a massive event. Josh started off ahead of us and I assumed I might not see him again until the end of the race, but Megan and I stuck together for the first bit of the ride.
About seven miles into the ride, the route crosses over a sandy wash where all cyclists have to dismount and carry their bikes to the other side. Of course, as soon as I picked up my bike to put it over my shoulder, I broke one of my water bottle cages. Luckily it didn't completely break off, but I realized that I'd have to be extra careful with my back bottle, since it was now pretty loosely attached. On the far side of the wash, there was a Mariachi band playing music and singing. They were really good, and this was also the first place on the course where lots of spectators were gathered to cheer, so the energy level was great. I stopped for a moment to see if I could find Megan behind me, but didn't see her and started riding again.
To be honest, large chunks of this ride are kind of a blur in my mind. I guess that's what happens when you're on your bicycle for almost 8 straight hours. I stopped for the first time around mile 30 to eat a little bit and to blow my poor snotty nose (some super awesome volunteer actually grabbed a whole box of tissue from his car for me!), and then kept pedaling along. Meredith caught up to me somewhere along Houghton Rd, and we were able to chat a little bit up until Freeman Rd where I passed by her on the nice big downhill. I knew that there would be an aid station after the second wash crossing, so I decided not to stop again until that point. Around mile 40-45, I started to hurt. My legs were feeling heavy and my saddle was really starting to bother me, and I was beginning to worry a bit about how I'd finish another 70 miles. I kept plugging away, forcing myself to drink and eat even though I wasn't hungry at all, and eventually made it to the second wash crossing at mile 47.
Just as I was starting the second wash crossing (which was really long, like 3/4 of a mile), I got a text from Josh saying that he was also at the wash. I was able to call him and figure out that he had just finished walking through the wash, and he waited for me on the other side. I was really pleased to know that I had been so close behind him, and it was also nice to stop for a minute and talk. I think walking across the wash gave my legs just the break they needed, because I felt much better after trudging through all that sand, surprisingly enough. Within the first mile after the wash, there is a purely awful hill on Snyder Rd. I made it to the top and pushed through, but man, this killed my legs. I was happy to coast down a few hills after that.
I lost Josh again soon after the Snyder Rd hill, and tried to keep thinking about how nice it would be once I had finished all of the uphills along Sunrise and Oracle and could finally enjoy the awesome downhill on Tangerine. I was doing fine, pedaling and spinning my legs as fast as I could, but I always seemed to be all by myself on the road, with big packs of people behind me and in front of me, but never with me. Oh well. Probably for the best, as big packs kind of freak me out anyway. I passed by all of the aid stations because I felt like I had plenty of water and I had eaten a good bit at the wash, but this turned out to be a bad idea. After the turn onto Oracle, I soon realized that I only had a couple more sips of water in my bottles. I definitely should have refilled them back at the Snyder wash. Oracle Rd is a bitch no matter what, but this was especially rough for me. I was riding all by myself (or felt like it, anyway), the wind was starting to really pick up, I was concerned about saving my last bit of water, and I didn't know when the next aid station was. I had a horrible feeling that I wouldn't be able to get more water until after the last steep hill on Oracle, which was going to suck.
Justin caught me about halfway up Oracle, and chatting briefly with him was enough to temporarily take my mind off of the dreaded upcoming hill, which was good. He passed me after a short while, and I was back on my own. Just as I was starting to see the hill nearing me, I noticed an aid station on the side of the road- I was so happy to see that damn aid station. I pulled off and dropped my bike, and as I walked to refill my bottles, ran into Josh again. We talked about the wind and the hills and ate a bunch of fruit, and he reminded me to take some Advil, which I'm convinced was a lifesaver. From this point on, Josh and I remained pretty close and leaped back and forth with each other for the rest of the race. This water stop was JUST what I needed, because I totally got a second wind after leaving. We tackled the Oracle hill, then the rolling hills in Rancho Vistoso, and then we were off to the lovely 5-mile downhill at Tangerine Rd.
The wind had picked up considerably as we rode through Rancho Vistoso, and we were all beginning to dread the final 15 miles of the race, which we knew would be directly into a headwind. I had not been expecting the crazy crosswinds on Tangerine though. On a normal day, I can coast down Tangerine at approximately 27mph, but on this day, I had to pedal pretty hard to keep up a pace of about 24mph. Talk about frustrating! This was not the free speed I had been looking forward to at all. Feeling dejected, we stopped at the bottom of the hill to stretch and eat a bit. I was feeling surprisingly good, and at this same time I looked at my watch and realized that I could most likely beat 8 hours for the whole ride!! I had some new enthusiasm towards getting this thing finished, and I was ready to push on.
From here (~85 miles) on, the wind was just terrible. Mostly, it was straight in our faces. Sometimes, it would gust to the side and make us swerve. It was devastating. In situations like this though, I really do take solace in knowing that no matter how bad I'm suffering, there are thousands of other people suffering right along with me. I'm not sure why that makes me feel so much better, but it does. I don't have much to say about the final 30 miles of the route... they were long, and slow, and painful. Josh was starting to hurt in the last 20 miles or so, so we leap-frogged each other quite a few times. We stopped for one final time about 11 miles from the finish line, and he sat down to rest his back. I was definitely starting to hit a wall and get very tired, but I knew that I was close to the end and I really just wanted to finish, so I told him that I would see him at the finish line and I went off with a mission to get this thing done.
I pushed through the last miles, watching my odometer count off every tenth of a mile and trying my best to keep a steady pace. When I finally reached the turn on Congress Rd towards the finish line, I stood up on my pedals and sprinted past the two ladies next to me towards the line. My watch said 2:42- so my time was 7 hours and 42 minutes. I crossed with a huge smile and even choked back some tears that popped up when I thought about what I had just done... I mean, this was pretty awesome. Not only had I never ridden more than 70 miles before, but I had been sick all week, and I still beat my goal time by 17 minutes?! Yeah, I was psyched. (I had a secret goal of 8 hours which I hadn't told anyone about, and wasn't entirely sure that I could actually pull off.)
Josh came through the finish just a few minutes after me, and then Megan and Liz both also crossed within the next 15 minutes. I think we may have all surprised ourselves a little bit, and having talked since then, we're all ready to do it again. :)
I absolutely love riding my bike. I was already online searching for future bike races within hours of returning home from the El Tour finish line. Although I'm not sure that many can beat the atmosphere of this race. El Tour is run very smoothly, the participants are so encouraging and (for the most part) friendly, the volunteers are incredible, the events are well organized, the spectator support is awesome, the scenery is beautiful, and it's just a hell of a lot of fun. I will absolutely do this race again-- without a doubt, my favorite race thus far.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
I admit it, I'm a bit of a sucker for all of the holiday buzz. While I agree with most reasonable people that the holiday decor popping up in retail stores as early as mid-October is a bit excessive... I have to say that I am eagerly awaiting the passage of Thanksgiving so that I can pull out the decorations and holiday music without feeling like a crazy person. The other day I almost bought a new skirt for the Christmas tree, but had to restrain myself. Must.. wait.. until November 26th...
As much as I enjoy other holidays (see Meggopotamus), I have to say that Christmas is by far my favorite. Or, better yet, the weeks leading up to and surrounding Christmas are my favorite. It's not so much the holiday itself (to be honest, the religious underpinnings are of no real significance to me), but it's the buzz around it. It's holiday parties and warm slippers and enjoying and appreciating the people around us. And dressing dogs up in reindeer antlers.
I know it's not very hip of me, but I love Christmas music. My iTunes library boasts more Christmas-themed selections than it does cheesy 80's songs... and trust me, that's really saying something about quantity. I love decorating the house with lights and shiny ornaments. I love the smell of hot chocolate and honeybaked ham and cinnamon rolls. I love those damned Mint Chocolate M&Ms that are only available during this time of year. I love coming up with offbeat and thoughtful gifts for people. I love watching Christmas movies (both the good ones and the horrible ones). I love wrapping presents. I love making fun of Delilah's ridiculously sappy Christmas radio broadcasts. And I love remembering all of these things from every past holiday season, and looking forward to them for the next.
So c'mon, Black Friday, I need you to hurry up and be my excuse to let my holiday cheer spill forth!
As much as I enjoy other holidays (see Meggopotamus), I have to say that Christmas is by far my favorite. Or, better yet, the weeks leading up to and surrounding Christmas are my favorite. It's not so much the holiday itself (to be honest, the religious underpinnings are of no real significance to me), but it's the buzz around it. It's holiday parties and warm slippers and enjoying and appreciating the people around us. And dressing dogs up in reindeer antlers.
I know it's not very hip of me, but I love Christmas music. My iTunes library boasts more Christmas-themed selections than it does cheesy 80's songs... and trust me, that's really saying something about quantity. I love decorating the house with lights and shiny ornaments. I love the smell of hot chocolate and honeybaked ham and cinnamon rolls. I love those damned Mint Chocolate M&Ms that are only available during this time of year. I love coming up with offbeat and thoughtful gifts for people. I love watching Christmas movies (both the good ones and the horrible ones). I love wrapping presents. I love making fun of Delilah's ridiculously sappy Christmas radio broadcasts. And I love remembering all of these things from every past holiday season, and looking forward to them for the next.
So c'mon, Black Friday, I need you to hurry up and be my excuse to let my holiday cheer spill forth!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Bicycle, thy name is...
For a while now, I've been trying to come up with a name for my bicycle. He (yes, he) has sexy black and red coloring, French wheels and a French frame, and an Italian drive train and saddle. Very European. He is fast, strong, responsive, and quite attractive. When we are out together, he is openly admired by women and men alike.
My bike and I logged many hours this past weekend, riding 135 miles over the course of 4 days... and in less than two weeks, I will ride 109 miles in one day for the El Tour de Tucson. It was time to finally decide on a name so that he and I might be completely comfortable with each other come race day.
I am pleased to introduce Gustavo.
My bike and I logged many hours this past weekend, riding 135 miles over the course of 4 days... and in less than two weeks, I will ride 109 miles in one day for the El Tour de Tucson. It was time to finally decide on a name so that he and I might be completely comfortable with each other come race day.
I am pleased to introduce Gustavo.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Desert Grande Duathlon
Another fun race! I'm on a roll! Despite technical difficulties (see below), I had a really great time at this race. I said a while back that I was going to take a break from triathlons, mainly because the swim portion of the race always puts me in a sour mood for the rest of the day. Since I've been running a lot more lately, and have been putting in tons of miles on the bike, it only made sense to sign up for this short duathlon. Duathlons replace the swim portion of a tri with an extra run, so this race consisted of a 1.5 mile run, a 10.3 mile bike, and a 3 mile run.
We arrived to the race site before sunrise, so it was still quite chilly outside. I knew it would warm up as soon as the sun rose, but I wasn't ready to part with my sweats until just before the gun went off. I found a good spot in transition, picked up my number, set up my stuff, and wandered around a bit waiting for 7:30 to roll around. Luckily, the sun was completely up by the time the race started, and it had already started to get a lot warmer.
The first run was pretty uneventful. I started off a bit too fast and had to slow my pace a little bit, but otherwise felt pretty good. The 1.5 mile course was a boring dirt loop, so there wasn't really much to look at and people were pretty spaced out. I knew I was right in the middle of the pack, which was fine by me, so I was pretty happy when I made it back to transition. My transition was pretty quick, shoes went off and on easily, and I was off running with my bike.I felt terrific for this bike segment, and I was ready to hammer it full throttle. I knew that I didn't really care what my run times would be, but I was really hoping to get a great time on the bike. For the first two miles of the bike course, I was averaging well over 20mph, passing people, and feeling awesome. I got to the first turn, leaned into the corner, and suddenly felt my front rim scraping the road, almost causing me to spill sideways. My front tire was flat. ARGH. I kept riding, trying to decide if it was worth the time and effort to stop and replace my tube on such a short ride. The course was really flat and the roads were pretty good, so as long as I was riding straight and watching closely for rocks, I decided I would keep going. I rounded another corner with similar uneasy results, and kept riding, but between the extra friction on my tire and my nervousness about potential crashes, I couldn't go faster than 16mph anymore. By the time I got to 4.5 miles in, I decided that I need to try something... I pulled over and filled up my tire with a CO2 cartridge, not taking the time to replace the actual tube (replacing the tube would take me probably 4-5 minutes, whereas just refilling the tube took only about 30 seconds). The extra air helped a little bit, and for a short while I was able to get my speed back up, but it didn't last. By mile 6 my front tire was completely flat again, and I decided just to push it as hard as I was comfortable with and to get the ride finished. Riding that far and fast with a flat tire is almost akin to riding standing up, and boy, my legs were feeling it. I finished the bike leg five minutes slower than I had originally hoped for, and I honestly believe that without the flat tire I might have finished a full 10 minutes faster than what I did. Oh well, considering the circumstances, I'm still happy with my time.
 |
| Screaming, "My tire has been flat for SEVEN damn miles!!" |
My legs were pretty spent when I ran into transition the second time. I stopped for a minute to drink some fluids and stretch my calf, then I was off again. The second run course was really nice- it was a dirt trail with a few small rolling hills that went up towards the foothills of some small mountains. At one point we passed by a fire station where a bunch of full-uniformed firefighters were running drills- kind of random, but interesting to watch for a few minutes. My left calf was really tight for the entire run, obviously a result of the rough bike ride. I walked only a few steps at each water station on the run course, but otherwise ran the entire thing. I got passed by a ton of people, which wasn't too surprising and I was too concerned about the pain in my legs to care anyway. I was finally able to pick up my pace a bit when I could see the finish line, and finished the race in 1 hour and 28 minutes. My goal time for the race had been 1:30, so I was happy to meet that goal... but thinking about how much faster I would have been without that flat tire (and tired legs as a result of the flat tire) was pretty frustrating.The fact that I managed to finish the race and enjoy myself despite my troubles makes me feel pretty good. And once again, Josh proved to be quite the race photographer. It was perfect weather, the course was really nice, the race was well organized, and everybody there seemed to have a great time. I may very well have to do this race again next year to get my revenge on the bike course...
Monday, November 1, 2010
Meggopotamus
Man, I love Halloween so much!
My mission for Halloween this year: a costume that was easily identifiable yet completely unexpected, unoffensive, and humorous. So naturally, I decided to dress as a hippo. It was a massive success. The general reaction I received was one of uncontrollable laughter, with a bit of incredulous head shaking and chuckling. I mean, really, if you're going to dress up for a party, you might as well be 100% certain that you won't be dressed the same as anyone else, right?
Josh has been out of town for work for the last week, so he unfortunately had to miss all of the holiday excitement. I took the liberty of carving a mustached pumpkin for him in his absence.
I didn't get very many trick-or-treaters at the house, but there were a few. Callie and Sienna were very excited to have so many little people to poke them in the face, although it got pretty old trying to hold back both dogs away from the door with one hand while giving out candy with the other. Although she didn't wear it while the kids were coming by, Callie sported her awesome land shark costume earlier in the day:
Sienna is too cool for costumes. But, she does enjoy her stylish silk scarf.
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